Hamilton never doubted the urgent need for a central bank. Lacking a uniform currency acceptable in all states, still suffering from a hodgepodge of foreign coins, the country required an institution that could expand the money supply, extend credit to government and business, collect revenues, make debt payments, handle foreign exchange, and provide a depository for government funds. Hamilton stated flatly that anyone who served a single month as treasury secretary would develop a “full conviction that banks are essential to the pecuniary operations of the government.”
